Recently Samsung rolled out the new Android 4.4.2 official kitkat update for the Sprint Galaxy S3 (SPH-L710) smartphones. You can get this update with the the help of Samsung KIES (Read here how to Update Samsung Devices with KIES) or you can update it via OTA (Over the Air). But if you have the rooted device then you have to do it manually. If you are looking for the manual way to update your device, here is the full and complete guide to apply this update on your smartphone. To apply this update all you need the official firmware file and ODIN flash tool.

This guide is only for the Sprint Galaxy S3 (SPH-L710) users and don’t try this update on any of your other Samsung devices. Before following this guide do take the full backup of your phone.

WARNING!

We the Howtorootmobile.com team or the developers are not responsible for bricked devices, dead SD cards. Read all the instruction very carefully and Perform everything at your own risk.

CHECK PHONE MODEL

This guide is only for the Sprint Galaxy S3 (SPH-L710) android smartphone. Don’t try this method on any of other Android devices, It may hard brick your device. So, first confirm your phone model number in your android phone settings. To do this Go the Settings page of your device and check out the “About Device” option.

PRE-REQUISITES AND REQUIREMENTS

Before following the below Mention guide, It’s always recommended to follow our pre-requisites and requirement to stay safe.

1. BACKUP YOUR ANDROID DATA

Do take the Full Backup of your Android Apps, SMS, Contacts, Call Logs, Bookmarks. This one is one of the most important step that you have to follow, as we don’t want anyone losing their personal data or apps. For help on Backup and Restore check out the below mention guides.

2. INSTALL SAMSUNG GALAXY S3 DRIVERS

You need these drivers to connect your device with the computer to follow this guide. Without these USB drivers you can’t connect your device to the PC, first download and install these drivers on your system.

3. ENABLE USB DEBUGGING MODE

4. CHARGE YOU ANDROID

If your device switched off during this process, it could damage or brick the device. Make sure that your Android battery is full charge or near about 50-70% battery level.

After following the above mention steps follow the below mention guide one by one to proceed with the tutorial. All the above mention steps are very important, so do follow all the steps and do exactly what is told.

UPDATE SPRINT GALAXY S3 WITH ANDROID 4.4.2

Step 2.Download the ODIN flash tool here and extract the folder on your desktop. In the Folder you will see the ODIN.exe file, you need this application to install the firmware.

Step 3. Turn off your S3 and boot it into the Download Mode. To do this press and hold the Volume Down key, Home button, and Power button. You should see a warning triangle sign, press Volume Up to continue.

Step 4. Now connect your device to PC with USB cable. Now run the ODIN.exe file on your desktop that you downloaded on Step 2. When the device is connected successfully, the ID: COM box of ODIN screen will turn “Blue” with the COM port number and “ADDED” message appears in Odin. See the screenshot below:-

Step 5. Now select the files that you have to install on your phone. You can get all these files on the Firmware package that your downloaded on Step 1.

elect these files from the extracted firmware package(Step 1);

a) Click the PDA / AP button and select file with .tar.md5 extension

b) Click the Phone / CP button and select file with MODEM in its name

c) Click the CSC button and select file with CSC in its name

d) Click the PIT button and select the .pit file
[Note: Ignore the last three steps (b, c and d) if such files are not found.]

And make sure that Auto Reboot and F.Reset Time check boxes are selected in Odin. Also, ensure the Re-Partition option in Odin is not selected, check it ONLY if you selected a .PIT file in the above step.

Step 6. [IMPORTANT] Recheck all the setting once again, once you are sure that all setting are correct then hit the Start button from the ODIN application screen to start the update process.

Step 7. The flashing process will take some time, once the installation is done you will see the “PASS” message with green background on the ODIN application.

Step 8. After the installation is completed, your phone will restart and at this time you can disconnect your device from the PC.